HOUSTON – (Jan. 9, 2019) – Experts will gather at the Texas State Capitol in Austin Jan. 16 for a panel discussion of legislation passed in 2017 on experimental stem cell interventions. Speakers will discuss how the legislation will complement existing clinical trials and how institutional review boards (IRBs) will oversee the implementations mandated by the law.

Who: Dr. Barry Davis, the Guy S. Parcel Chairman in Public Health, professor of biostatistics and director of the Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials at the University of Texas School of Public Health; Dr. James Willerson, president emeritus of the Texas Heart Institute; and Dr. Sherif Zaafran, president of the Texas Medical Board.

Kirstin Matthews, fellow in science and technology policy at the Baker Institute, will serve as moderator.

In 2017, Texas passed House Bill 810, also known as “Charlie’s Law,” which expanded patient access to experimental stem cell interventions. The legislation requires that clinics conducting stem cell work report annually on patients and procedures, but how these reports would look and how they would be used is unclear, according to this event’s organizers. Panelists will also highlight other successful registries that can be used as models and the influence those registries have on public health. They will also discuss the infrastructure, resources and legislative actions required to create a registry.

This event is part of a series launched in 2016 dedicated to educating the public on the important intersection of science, medicine and policy in stem cell research at the state and national levels. The series is a collaboration between the Baker Institute’s Center for Health and Biosciences and the Texas Heart Institute, partially funded by a grant from the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top three university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.